Movies

`Belle Gibson’s Toxic Rise to Fame`

BBG News

The show titled “Apple Cider Vinegar,” premiering on Netflix February 6, narrates the tale of a health enthusiast feigning illness, set around real-life occurrences.

For approximately ten years, it has been discovered that Belle Gibson, an Australian wellness influencer, who claimed to have a malignant brain tumor and a strong interest in food on Instagram, was not actually suffering from cancer. In 2017, Gibson was found guilty of fraudulent and misleading behavior by the Federal Court of Australia, and was ordered to pay a fine of around AUD $400,000 or USD $322,000. Her cookbook titled “The Whole Pantry” was removed from distribution.

In developing the character of Belle in the series Apple Cider Vinegar, featuring Kaitlyn Dever, showrunner Samantha Strauss drew inspiration from The Woman Who Fooled The World: The True Story of Fake Wellness Guru Belle Gibson, a nonfiction book penned by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano. This book recounts the story of Gibson, who falsely claimed to have cured her own cancer through healthy diets and alternative treatments, and details how she constructed a prosperous wellness brand based on this deception.

As a cinema enthusiast, I’ve noticed that Gibson is not involved in the series and won’t reap any benefits from it. Strauss views this show as a public service announcement (PSA) exposing fraudsters in the wellness industry, which resonates deeply amidst the surge of anti-vax sentiments and misleading COVID treatments during the pandemic peak. She intends for the series to spark discussions about what drives certain individuals to disregard medical professionals’ advice and lean towards figures like Gibson and alternative therapies. While I wholeheartedly support the importance of community, yoga, and meditation, I firmly believe that trusting science and doctors serves us well, not harm. So let’s keep sipping our juices, but never forget the value of heeding medical experts!

Belle Gibson’s rise to fame

In 2013, Belle Gibson, the genuine individual, established an account on Instagram with the handle “Healing Belle” as the photo-sharing platform was growing in popularity. Notably, she gained rapid fame for her visually appealing posts that detailed her journey of overcoming terminal brain cancer without conventional chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Her account showcased a variety of recipes for organic meals and juices.

In that very year, she launched a highly-acclaimed recipe application titled The Whole Pantry, which immediately soared to the highest rankings on the Apple app store. Within merely two years, Gibson’s brand, The Whole Pantry, garnered half a million dollars in revenue. In 2014, she released her own cookbook.

In her cooking show, people would frequently reach out for health advice along with recipe requests. She’d offer suggestions on foods or treatments that might aid in their recovery process. The title of the show is a tribute to wellness advocates who commonly advocate apple cider vinegar as a panacea, although it wasn’t necessarily Gibson’s preferred remedy for all issues.

In Apple Cider Vinegar, Kaitlyn Dever’s character Belle exudes confidence with her assertions such as “I’m not ordinary; I survive by being extraordinary” and “If the tale no longer suits you, alter it. Alter the tale, transform the world!”.

The relationship between Milla and Belle

The character Milla, portrayed by Alycia Debnam-Carey, is a cancer patient who has garnered attention for her approach to battling illness through food. Her methods, particularly her reliance on Apple Cider Vinegar, serve as the catalyst for Belle’s deception. Milla draws inspiration from various wellness influencers, with Jess Ainscough being a significant influence. Ainscough was a teen magazine editor who gained viral fame on social media for her experience of staying in remission from cancer without conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. Even Ainscough’s mother adopted these unconventional methods when she was diagnosed with cancer (as shown in Apple Cider Vinegar), but she passed away in 2013. Sadly, Ainscough herself passed away in 2015 at the age of 29.

Gibson and Ainscough often mingled within the same health-focused communities, yet they were never close friends, as evident from their interactions depicted in “Apple Cider Vinegar”. In a scene at one of Milla’s lectures, Gibson is shown trying to approach her, but Milla dismissively ignores her. On the television program, Milla is portrayed as attempting to expose Gibson as a fraud, however, this did not transpire in reality since they were not well-acquainted beyond exchanging occasional comments on each other’s social media posts.

“In reality, Jess really had very little to do with Belle Gibson,” says Donelly.

Despite what the show portrays, Gibson indeed attended Ainscough’s funeral and caused quite a stir with her boisterous, tearful outbursts. She found herself in Ainscough’s old bedroom and wept on Ainscough’s fiancé’s shoulder at a moment when Donelly and Toscano had recently posed 21 questions for their investigation, hinting that her tears may not have been solely about the end of Jess’s career, but also about the potential demise of her own.

How it was discovered that Belle Gibson was faking cancer

Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, reporters for The Age’s newsroom in Melbourne, received a tip from a source who was familiar with her, expressing skepticism about her claimed diagnosis of cancer.

In the documentary titled “Apple Cider Vinegar,” reporters are scrutinizing a subject named Belle. One of these journalists, Justin (Mark Coles Smith), discovers Belle through his companion Lucy (Tilda Cobham-Hervey). Lucy, who is going through breast cancer treatment, finds comfort in Belle’s posts and eventually decides to halt her conventional therapy and explore alternative treatments suggested by Belle instead.

In essence, neither Donelly nor Toscano’s personal lives involved someone undergoing cancer treatment while they were conducting their investigation. Interestingly, the informant who tipped them off was a friend of Gibson’s named Chanelle (portrayed by Aisha Dee in the series). Chanelle attempted an intervention but it fell flat when Gibson stuck to her narrative. She revealed that during Gibson’s son’s fourth birthday party in 2014, Gibson had a seizure, yet she prevented anyone from calling an ambulance and refused hospitalization. This incident raised Chanelle’s suspicions about Gibson’s honesty. Moreover, Chanelle had prepared meals for a family with a son battling brain cancer, but the meals were never delivered by Belle. Instead, Chanelle found them stored in Belle’s freezer.

In summary, Gibson’s appearance suggested no illness, and her active online lifestyle seemed incongruous with her reported diagnosis. Several people close to her expressed doubts about the authenticity of her seizure and had never witnessed her visiting a doctor. The journalists shared Gibson’s posts detailing her cancer progression with several oncologists, who stated that such spread is not typical of how cancer behaves.

Given that they couldn’t find enough sources willing to go public, they chose to investigate whether Gibson had been dishonest again. In March 2015, Donelly and Toscano disclosed that Gibson had allegedly pledged to donate to five charities, yet none of them had received the funds. Subsequently, they raised questions about her cancer status. Facing a barrage of criticism, Gibson posted on Facebook claiming that “the work my company and its content made a positive impact in hundreds of thousands of lives.” Three months later, following The Age’s expose, she confessed to Australian Women’s Weekly that she had fabricated her cancer diagnosis.

Donelly and Toscano transformed their investigative work on Gibson into the 2017 book titled “The Woman Who Deceived the World“, which delved into the extent Gibson went to conceal her cancer hoax. One of Gibson’s former assistants revealed that she never had medical appointments scheduled, contradicting her posts on social media claiming she was attending doctor’s visits. An artist who nearly collaborated with Gibson claimed she asserted she acquired psychic abilities following her seizures, which allowed her to sense people’s auras. On one occasion, Gibson’s partner Clive Rothwell (portrayed by Ashley Zukerman in the series) drove her to the hospital, only to watch her enter a nearby park instead.

The reason Belle Gibson pretended to have cancer

That’s the biggest mystery to this day. 

According to Toscano, Belle has been sharing tales of extraordinary medical recoveries since her youth. For the book, reporters interviewed numerous childhood friends who remembered Belle discussing her heart surgery and claiming she had died and needed resuscitation. Toscano states that Belle would manipulate people’s emotions by spreading false stories about medical emergencies.

In my critique, I must commend Strauss for his thoughtful approach when depicting the character, deliberately avoiding any label of a specific mental health condition. As far as we know, such a diagnosis wasn’t validated in real life, and he rightly deemed it inappropriate to speculate or sensationalize.

Donelly believed the seizure during her son’s birthday party might have been an attempt to gain attention and compassion, as it coincided with a time when some people close to her were questioning whether or not her cancer diagnosis was indeed terminal. In other words, she suspected that Donelly could have been trying to provide proof of her illness.

Absolutely, Gibson’s narrative resonated with many due to her offering something faith-inspiring. As Donelly puts it, “She managed to get away with it because she was providing hope to extremely ill, defenseless individuals.” It was particularly effective because it was presented attractively on Instagram, adorned with appealing images and enticing recipes.

As a movie enthusiast who appreciates the truth behind the scenes, I urge my fellow filmgoers to exercise caution when encountering extraordinary tales of disease recovery or mysterious treatments that seem too good to be true – especially if they contradict established medical practices. Let’s always keep an open mind, but never forget the importance of consulting trusted healthcare professionals for guidance on our health journey.

As a devoted viewer, I can’t help but echo the sentiments expressed by Toscano: The alarming issue this show brings to light is the misleading advice some in the wellness industry are giving. They’re advocating unconventional treatments as substitutes for chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or standard medical care. This is where the real risk lies, and it’s the unsavory truth about the wellness sector that we need to be aware of.

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2025-02-06 21:07

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